MUMBAI: Music label Saregama plans to invest between Rs 10 to 15 million during its initiative to find 30 new artists from across the country.

The initiative, which has been in the works for nearly six months has screened aspiring musicians across Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. 30 artistes have been shortlisted after auditions and demos across the three states.Saregama will cut three albums containing 10 songs from each city. These artistes comprise DJs, bands and solo singers. The songs will feature a variety of genres like electronic, rock, jazz, sung in languages varying from Bangla, Marathi, English and others.

Says Saregama product manager Shatadru Sarkar, "We have signed the proper contracts with the featuring artistes and the only clause is to create original contemporary music with no sampling and remixes."

"Saregama has planned a complete 360 degree plan to promote the artistes and a budget between 10 to 15 million rupees has been allotted for the album and promotions. The promotions planned include streaming music on Myspace, on TV via music videos, print via publications and independent music magazines and also some live shows across the three cities," adds Sarkar.

Saregama has joined hands with Myspace to promote the artiste on the web space. Talking about the collaboration with Myspace, Saregama chief marketing officer Gavin D'abreo says, "Myspace is the digital marketing partner for this upcoming album. It is a Saregama product and initiative from start to finish. We have tied up with Myspace to promote the artistes heavily on the web on their platforms as it fits with their initiatives. Our tie-up with them is not to identify or source new talent, it is to promote them on the web."

Also, the music label would be providing an opportunity to upcoming filmmakers to make videos for the 30 songs in the album. Further, these videos will be uploaded on Myspace and polled by the surfers and the winner would stand a chance to visit a Hollywood studio.

Going by the audience response to the album, five to ten artistes will be short listed, and these will again be featured in an album and be signed for a three year contract.